William Hutchins

On a Sunday morning last summer, a woman walked into the Cody Law Enforcement Center and delivered a tip: Her boyfriend, she said, was cooking meth at their Bleistein Avenue home.

The information checked out, as a search of the residence revealed ingredients for making meth and what appeared to be the remains of a small batch on the stove.

Responding officers found William R. Hutchins at the residence, and noted the now-40-year-old was apparently under the influence of the drugs he’d made. They arrested Hutchins at the scene and District Court Judge Bill Simpson handed down a six- to eight-year prison sentence last month.

“... there is a message that needs to be sent to individuals who would engage, for whatever reason, in the manufacture or attempted manufacture of methamphetamine,” Simpson said, “and that is that this is poison.”

‘It makes a mess’

Hutchins has what the judge described as a “fairly lengthy criminal history” with some felonies. That included prior drug offenses, domestic violence, theft and causing serious bodily injury while driving intoxicated.

Hutchins indicated that, after relapsing in Michigan, he came to Cody in an attempt to straighten out his life. However, things went awry with his then-girlfriend and now co-defendant, Destiny S. Abate. He wound up unable to pay rent and he decided to make meth on one weekend in late June 2024, he said.

With some reported assistance from Abate, he gathered up cold packs, lithium batteries, sulfuric acid, lye crystals, Coleman fuel, and pseudoephedrine (a type of decongestant).

“You add them all together and shake it up and burn it for an hour or two and it makes a mess,” Hutchins testified earlier this year.

The process is dangerous: Hutchins indicated that a small fire broke out in his rental, and Abate reportedly told police that the gas produced by the mixture caused a burning sensation in her lungs.

Cody police wore protective gear when they first entered the house and later requested assistance from other agencies, including fire personnel and the regional hazmat team.

“I have never attempted anything like that in my life, and I understand the seriousness of it and the danger that I posed to the community, and I’m terribly sorry for that,” Hutchins said at his sentencing. “But it was never, ever my intent to try to deal anything, or anything like that.”

His former boss at a Cody hotel — who has herself served prison time for drugs — backed up his account at sentencing.

“I don’t think his intention was to come to this town and be a drug dealer. I truly don’t,” she said of Hutchins, explaining she would have heard about it. 

The woman said a 10- or 15-year prison sentence for the offense would be “crazy” and “ridiculous.”

Arguing sentencing

Defense attorney Sam Krone recommended a three- to five-year sentence. While acknowledging that any kind of clandestine lab poses a risk, Krone said the high end of potential punishments are intended for larger operations or distributors.

“We’re not asking today for there not to be consequences,” he said, “we’re just asking your honor to look at the specifics of this instance.”

Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Eichele, however, stuck with his 12 to 15 recommendation. He noted the poisonous nature of the chemicals and the disruption caused by the investigation and cleanup.

Compared to other drug crimes of, say, repeated possession, “this is a different animal,” Eichele said.

Before he pronounced the sentence, Simpson mused that Hutchins came to Wyoming to get away from his problems, but wound up bringing them with him.

“Whether it’s a large lab or a small lab, it’s a lab,” Simpson added. “This stuff is toxic. It’s deadly. It’s dangerous. It kills people. It ruins lives. It ruins communities.”

To help Hutchins with his substance abuse struggles, Simpson made a recommendation that he be admitted to the intensive drug treatment unit within the state prison system. Hutchins has been jailed in Cody since his June 22, 2024, arrest and that time will count toward his prison sentence.

As for Abate — the former girlfriend who originally turned Hutchins in — authorities have charged her with a felony count aiding and abetting the manufacture of meth. The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation says it gathered store surveillance footage showing that Abate accompanied Hutchins as he purchased various ingredients for the meth and purchased some on her own.

The county attorney’s office obtained a warrant for Abate’s arrest a year ago, but she remains at large. In an unrelated civil case, a creditor indicated that they believe she’s in Michigan.